An unexpectedly heavy snow storm on Tuesday left Paris, France nearly crippled.  The storm was severe enough to completely close the Eiffel Tower.  During the winter, it's not unusual for the Tower elevators to be closed because they are operated with water pressure, and antifreeze can't perform well under the extremely high pressure required for them, but the stairs are usually available.  This time, however, even the stairs were closed off because they were deemed to be too dangerous to use.  Highways leading in and out of Paris were slowed to a crawl because of the snow, and by late in the day, automotive traffic in the French capital was largely replaced by people on foot and carrying unbrellas,